Between managing family affairs and performing her job work, working women in the blessed month of Ramadan make a double effort and harness their energy optimally without default. With the requirements of life, Saudi women combined the duties of their home and the tasks of their job. A fruitful producer, seeking from that reward and benefiting from the virtues of this holy month.
In our previous generation of our mothers, we have a good example, as they succeeded, despite the difficulty of life, in balancing during the holy month between the duties necessitated by the nature of life, and playing its role in serving the family without prejudice.
“SPA” monitored in this survey the reality of two generations whose life conditions differed, from self-reliance to a generation that was fueled by the wheel of civilization with auxiliary means and manpower to carry out its daily duties. The elderly Noura Bint Bijad, 81 years old, says: “In the past, I used to work during the month of Ramadan for long hours during the day. On a daily basis in the market in the Manfouha neighborhood, the heat of the sun and walking long distances did not discourage my resolve and carry out the duties of my family, then I return home to complete my duties at home and stand up for the needs of the husband and children and prepare food for breakfast, ”indicating that rest times are limited in preparation for preparing the Suhoor meal. “Praise and thanks be to the Lord – Almighty and Majestic – for what He has bestowed upon us.” She did not leave her tongue as she described the reality of her generation by saying, “We are used to working during the time of fasting, and the tasks in the holy month are hardly different from the rest of the year.” Helping mothers with housework instilled in them a love of work and knowledge of its priorities.
And she emphasized that the family had a vital role in the past in raising sons and daughters and preparing them to assume tasks, and foremost among that were religious duties. The elderly Noura added that the family's cooperation made it easier to find time to get enough sleep, perform Tarawih prayers, pray in the mosque, receive visitors, and purchase work supplies and complete them before selling them in the market.
The situation is not far from what Mrs. Faeqa Ali tells at the age of 75, when she compares her generation with that of her daughters – the house as a model – by saying: “The differences between the homes of today and the homes of the past in terms of space and design made the tasks and requirements of women today greater and more effortful, in the past Girls are allocated one room, as well as boys of all ages. The rooms are numbered, and each of them has his own tasks and household chores to relieve the mother and father, especially the workers among them, unlike the current time, the houses are large and have multiple facilities, in addition to the multiplicity of furniture and equipment, which necessitated some families to seek the help of a domestic worker As well as the driver to meet the needs of the family ». She pointed out that her work in the field of sewing was increasing in demand, especially during the Ramadan season and other social occasions, and she recalled in the folds of her past conversation with eagerness: “The family was cooperative and the simplicity of living without any cost .. I used the help of my daughters to help me choose and buy fabrics and assign them some practical tasks that suit their ages”, and in that it depicts a scene from the chapters of participatory life in the same family.
Up to the current generation, the employee in a commercial market in Riyadh, Nada Turki, explained that she is working to organize her time between her work and her home, and that she bypasses the circumstances of the distance from the workplace and the traffic congestion she encounters, to carry out her family duty.
And it dealt with the nature of some women’s jobs and the effort and time they require, indicating that some work at the present time requires double effort, such as that practiced by female employees in hospitals, commercial complexes, workshops and clinics of various specializations, as well as work related to productive families and marketing methods, and this requires the understanding and cooperation of the whole family. .
And she stated that she takes advantage of the weekly days off to fulfill her family and domestic obligations and made that her approach to exploiting the time, while she relies on preparing light foods that can be heated during working days in order to gain time in preparing breakfast, stressing the importance of planning and prioritizing during the holy month of Ramadan so that nothing happens. shortening.
For her part, Magda Abdo agrees with her predecessors on the need to organize time and avoid the feeling of wasting time and the pressure of work, describing it as a cause for laziness, as “according to her saying” every woman can manage her priorities and enjoy her work and the material and social returns she reaps, and that the key in that is to seize the time. And make the effort according to the importance.
She emphasized that Saudi women are keen to prepare their family's food in the month of Ramadan themselves, even with the presence of domestic workers, as they are well aware of the importance of proper food and distancing from what is brought from outside the home.
SPA (Riyadh)